On March 1 of next year, the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet, commonly known as the NATO phonetic alphabet, turns 70. Although unchanged for almost 70 years, it grew out of a dynamic environment where the need for a spelling alphabet was clear, but there was little agreement on a common standard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1949, a new organization, the International Civil Aviation Organization commissioned research from the Jean-Paul Vinay<\/a>, a linguistics professor at the University of Montreal. His work, with few changes led to the alphabet we use today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This video by RobWords is a fascinating glimpse into its history and pre-history. <\/p>\n\n\n\n